


Why do you care?

by bentnotbroken1



Series: bentnotbroken1's harringrove for australia [4]
Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Billy Hargrove Being an Asshole, Billy Hargrove Needs a Hug, Canon-Typical Violence, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-18
Updated: 2020-03-18
Packaged: 2021-02-28 22:47:44
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,561
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23194987
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bentnotbroken1/pseuds/bentnotbroken1
Summary: After Steve finds an unconscious Billy pulled off on the side of the road, he decides to take it upon himself to help the guy.But Billy doesn't want help. Even when he needs it.
Relationships: Billy Hargrove/Steve Harrington
Series: bentnotbroken1's harringrove for australia [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1615483
Comments: 19
Kudos: 183
Collections: harringrove for Australia





	Why do you care?

**Author's Note:**

  * For [hotdadlicense](https://archiveofourown.org/users/hotdadlicense/gifts).



> This HFA fic is for Tumblr user okayshitbird who gave the prompt of: Hurt/Comfort Billy is part of the party/found family. 
> 
> It's not quite to the point where he's a member of the party, but step one has been taken! So I hope this works our anyway. 😁
> 
> Special thanks and shout outs to umm-no-thanks and Gideongrace for alpha/editing this fic for me! ❤❤

It's eight in the morning. On a _Saturday._ And Steve wonders, not for the first time, how he got roped into staying with all of the brats until their campaign was over.

A sleepover, Dustin had said…

 _Sleepover_? They hadn't even gone to _bed._

Well, that's not true. At some point _Steve_ had passed out on the Wheelers couch upstairs, but the boys? Nope. They had played all. Night. Long.

 _So,_ it's eight in the morning, and he's driving a chatty Dustin and a sleepy Will home, going to Wills first because _I didn't even get to hang out with you, Steve. We missed out on bonding time._

He'd agreed because it's just easier to go along with whatever Henderson wants when he's running on four hours of sleep, and they are almost to the Byers when Steve sees a familiar blue car parked off to the side of the road.

Well, _parked_ isn't quite right. More like _slowly drove into some bushes._

On a normal day Steve would probably scoff, because _serves him right,_ and drive right on past. But today he finds himself intrigued and a bit concerned, so he stops.

Much to Dustin's dismay.

"What the hell are you doing?"

"I'm going to check on him." He replies and opens the door.

"We care about Max's stupid brother _why_? He _literally_ beat your face in like a couple months ago. Just leave him. He's probably sleeping off a hangover or something."

And chances are pretty high that he's right. Billy hadn't taken his title as Keg King for nothing, but if dealing with the Upside Down has taught him anything, it's that it's always better to double check.

"Just wait here."

Dustin huffs and Will stares out the window as Steve shuts the door.

He half expects the Camaro's engine to roar to life before backing over him, but it remains silent as he walks up to the driver side. He can see Billy slumped over in his seat, so he knocks on the window. "Hey, Hargrove, you alright in there, man?"

The other boy doesn't answer, doesn't even _move,_ so he tries the door. Thankfully it's unlocked and he leans inside to shake him awake. "Hey-" But he stops when he _sees_ him. "Jesus, what the _fuck_?"

He's definitely _not_ sleeping off a hangover. Steve would honestly wonder if he was even _alive_ if it wasn't for the rise and fall of his chest.

He's hurt.

Like _really hurt._

Of just what Steve can _see,_ he has a black eye underneath a fucked up eyebrow, a bloody nose and busted lip. He's not responding so he might even have a concussion or something.

He's hesitantly touching his shoulder when he hears the crunch of gravel behind him.

" _Seriously_ , Steve? Did you _actually_ think we were going to wait in the car while you-" Dustin stops mid sentence. "-Holy shit."

He looks over his shoulder and sees that Will is standing next to him, fully awake and wide eyed.

"Guys, help me."

The younger boys do what they're told and help Steve pull him out of the Camaro and carry him to the Beamer.

"Jesus, he's heavy." Dustin gripes and Steve rolls his eyes.

"What do you think happened to him?" Will asks.

"I don't know. I mean, he gets in some fights but usually he's the one that comes out on top." He grunts and shoves the blonde into the back seat. "And his hands aren't messed up. He split a knuckle on my fucking cheekbone when we fought." He lifts an undamaged hand. "There's not even a _bruise."_

"Should we like, take him to the hospital or something?" Dustin asks, "Maybe call Max's house and ask her parents what they want us to do?"

"Yeah, that's probably a good idea." He shuts the door and climbs back into the driver's seat. "Will, is your mom home today?" He'd feel a little better about this if an _actual_ adult was around.

Will slides in next to Billy. "No, just Jonathan."

"Shit. Ok. That's ok. Do you guys know Max's number?"

"Yeah."

"Great. We'll just go to Will's and use the phone and then we'll figure out what to do from there."

* * *

It's Max that answers when he's finally able to call, pushing Dustin back a bit as he hovers close to him, trying to hear what she's saying.

" _Hello?"_

"Hey, Max, it's Steve-"

" _Steve?"_ She sounds surprised and kind of exhausted. _"How did you get this number? What's going on?"_

He skips the first question and goes right into the second. "Listen, we found your brother on the side of the road this morning, and were kind of wondering if we should-"

" _You_ _ **found**_ _him?"_ She asks, and her voice pitches a bit, making Steve frown. _"Shit. Hold on."_ There's a rustling and she sounds muted as she calls out, " _Mom- I'm taking this in my room, ok?"_

They wait impatiently for a couple minutes while she switches phones. "Max?"

" _Where did you find him?"_

"Out on 300 North. His car was on the side of the road and it looked suspicious so I-"

" _Is he ok?"_ She sounds worked up when she cuts him off. Sounds _worried_.

"Uh, _not exactly_. That's why I wanted to call. Something must have happened because he's…" Steve glances out the window to where he knows the blonde is passed out in the back seat of his car. "Kind of a wreck? Like he's unconscious and we can't get him to respond. We wanted to know if we should take him to the hospital and tell your parents to meet us there."

" _No!"_ She quickly exclaims, and then clears her throat like she's embarrassed by her outburst. " _No, uh, that would probably make it worse."_

How could taking him to the hospital be _worse?_ "What? I know it's _Billy_ we're talking about here, but he's really hurt. Wouldn't your parents want to know-"

" _They already know,"_ she replies softly and Steve feels the bottom of his stomach drop out.

He shifts on his feet, suddenly feeling very uncomfortable. "They let him leave the house like that?"

It's eerily quiet on the line and then, "He _**made**_ _him leave the house like that."_

He can only assume that the _he_ she is referring to is her stepdad, and that's...well, it doesn't look good.

"Are you _safe_?" He asks pointedly, watching Dustin as his face changes from mildly bored to freaked in a split second.

"Why wouldn't she be safe?" He asks, coming closer to the phone. "Steve. Why wouldn't she be _safe_?"

Steve holds out a hand to silence him and listens for her response. He can only hear Max breathing for a few seconds. "Max?"

" _Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine. I don't...he doesn't hurt_ _ **me**_ _."_

Which tells him all that he needs to know, really. Besides Max, he might be the only one worried about the asshole.

"Ok, listen, here's what you're going to do. Go ask your mom if you can go to the movies and the arcade with El and the others. Tell her I'll come pick you up."

He's met Susan before. She called him _handsome_ and thanked him for watching out for Max and her friends, so he's fairly certain she won't care.

" _Ok. I'll ask her."_

He can hear her set the receiver down and a moment later she's back. " _Come get me."_

* * *

Steve was going to just leave Billy in the car while he picked up his sister, but thought better of it.

What if his dad is there? And sees him in Steve's car? What would he do? He'd rather _not_ find out, so he's knocking on Jonathan's door.

"Jonathan, hey, come help me get Hargrove out of my car."

When he opens the door Jonathan's eyebrows are disappearing into his hairline. "Hargrove? As in _Billy_?"

He rolls his eyes, "Do we know any _other_ Hargroves?"

"No, but why is he in your car?"

"It doesn't matter. Just help me. I'll explain later."

He follows Steve outside and once Jonathan _sees_ the guy, he makes a face, looks like he wants to say something about it, but he doesn't. Not until they painstakingly get him to the couch.

"So...you guys _found_ him like this?"

Steve grunts and shoves a throw pillow under Billy's head. "Yeah. Pretty sure he passed out behind the wheel." He looks over at the other boy. "I'm going to go pick up Max. Can you keep an eye on things?"

"Yeah, sure. But, is there a reason you're not just taking him home?"

Steve doesn't know quite what to say. He's not even one hundred percent sure he has it right, but, "I think…I have a feeling he got hurt there, so..."

He looks rather upset by the theory. "His dad?"

"Seems like it. That's why I'm leaving him here."

"Ok. I'll keep an eye on him, just go get Max."

He doesn't need to be told twice he's already out the door…

...where Dustin is standing in front of the car.

Steve shakes his head. "No, nope, definitely not. You're staying here."

"Why? It's not like he's going to go anywhere."

"Dustin."

"Steve."

"I need to talk to Max about some shit, and I think she'll be more willing to talk if we're alone."

Dustin is usually pretty logical so it doesn't surprise Steve when he sighs dramatically, " _Fine,_ I'll stay, but I'm going to be super pissed if he wakes up and pummels me."

"Jonathan is here."

_"And?"_

Steve starts to remind him that Jonathan kicked his ass too, but ends up ignoring him and starting the car. "I'm _leaving_ , Dustin. Try to behave."

He can't hear if the boy replies.

* * *

Max is already waiting by the sidewalk when he pulls up.

"Where is he?" she asks, immediately looking into the back seat as she climbs in.

"He's at Will's," Steve answers and doesn't even wait for her to put on her seatbelt before he speeds off. "Are you going to tell me what happened?"

He can see her hand clenching the fabric of her jeans. "I'm not really supposed to say anything."

Yeah. He should have seen that coming.

"I think it's a little too late for that now." He sighs. "By the way you reacted earlier, I'm guessing he got in a fight with his dad?"

She makes a dismissive noise. "Is it still considered a fight when only _one_ person is doing the hitting?"

Jesus Christ.

A lot of things about Billy Hargrove are starting to make a whole hell of a lot of sense.

"How long has _that_ been going on?" he asks, not sure if he really wants to hear the answer.

"I don't know," she admits. "I just found out a couple months ago."

"And you didn't think to _say_ anything to anyone?"

"I'm sorry." Her voice cracks and Steve feels a little bad for snapping at her. "He told me not to. He was upset that I even found out and Neil can be _scary_ , so I just listened to him."

"Jesus Christ." He can't quite wrap his head around all of this. "And he _doesn't_ hurt you? I mean, you'd tell me, right?"

"I'm fine, Steve. The most he's done is talk like _sternly_ at me."

"Ok. I just...I want to make sure."

They're both quiet for a moment before Max murmurs, "Last night was… bad. I woke up because Neil was yelling and he usually doesn't do that, he doesn't really get loud, but he was super pissed about something and didn't care if I heard."

"He threw him out around midnight, but I didn't go back to sleep. I sat up waiting to see his headlights, but I never did. I mean, I know he told him not to come back until today, but he says that a lot and Billy still sneaks back in. I should have done something."

"There's nothing you could have really done at that point, Max. He had already left," he assures her.

"Yeah."

"We know now, so we can help."

This time she kinda laughs. "Good luck getting my brother to let you _help_ him with anything."

 _Well_ , _that's too bad,_ he thinks, _he's not going to have a choice._

* * *

Billy wakes with an absolutely _raging_ headache. At first he thinks, _fucking hangover,_ but then the events of last night come crashing down on him and he realizes it's more than just his head that aches.

Fuck.

He moves slowly, carefully, just in case it's worse than he remembers, but then realizes he's laying down, not slumped against his steering wheel like he should be. He cracks an eye open and sees an unfamiliar ceiling. "What the fu- Where the fuck am I?"

A curly haired kid in a cap, one of Max's friends if he recalls correctly, is staring at him from a chair when he looks over. "His house." He nods to a wide eyed kid with an unfortunate haircut. Another friend of his sisters. The kid they call _zombie boy._

Byers. Will, yeah.

Which means he's at that batshit crazy house.

Great.

He tries to sit up but his head swims, making him feel woozy. He lays back down and rubs his eye before he can catch himself. He hisses at the sudden sting and grunts, "How the hell did I get here?"

Jonathan Byers comes into his line of sight, arms folded across his chest. "Steve brought you." _Harrington?_ "They found you on the side of the road."

He looks back at curly. "And you what? Just decided to kidnap me?"

The boy looks unimpressed. " _Yeah_ , we _kidnapped_ you. Thought it would make for a fun day."

"Listen here you little shit-"

"No, you know what? _Fuck you._ We should have left your ass there."

"Calm down, Dustin." Will says, "Fighting with him isn't going to accomplish anything."

The boy scoffs, "It makes me feel better."

"But it doesn't help the situation."

Dustin looks away, defeated. "Fine."

Will meets his eyes. "Umm, do you need some Tylenol or anything?"

Is this kid serious? If he looks _anything_ like how he feels, does he really think some Tylenol is gonna help?

"No. I don't need _Tylenol_. I _need_ to go home."

He needs to go home. There's shit he needs to do today if he's gonna avoid another round with his father's fists this weekend.

Yeah. He needs to leave.

 _Now_.

But there's a voice inside him that is telling him to stop, to breathe, to _think._ He doesn't have his car right now and he's ninety percent sure he _does_ have a concussion. His whole body fucking hurts, maybe worse than it has since he moved to this dump.

He should just calm down. Take it easy. Wait for Harrington.

But Billy isn't always good at listening to that voice.

He forces himself to sit up, then _stand_. Jonathan moves towards him, hands outstretched like he's ready to catch him if he falls.

Which, fine. The action is probably warranted, but like hell he's gonna fall in front of these geeks.

He's got more pride than that.

"You've got a car, right?" he asks Byers.

Jonathan replies warily, "Yes?"

"Fabulous, you can take me to my car."

Jonathan frowns. "I don't think that's a good idea."

"Well, I don't think I asked for your opinion."

"Billy, I'm serious. You can't drive."

"I'll walk home, then, dickhead," he grumbles as he wobbles towards the door, ignoring the pain that shoots through him. It opens before he gets there, causing him to stop in his tracks because he's now face to face with Steve fucking Harrington.

"Take me back to my car," Billy immediately demands, not letting Steve get a syllable out. "I need to go home."

Steve's eyes widen when he sees him standing, but he shakes his head. "Yeah, no. You're not in any condition to drive, man. And like _hell_ you're going home."

"Why the fuck not?"

Then Billy sees Max standing awkwardly behind him and he knows what's happened. He feels an angry sort of betrayal blooming in his gut. Why would she-? How could she-? She fucking promised! "Maxine, I swear to god-!"

Steve puts a hand on his chest, pushes him back a step, very reminiscent of the last time they were facing off in this living room. "Hey, hey, hey. Don't blame her. It was obvious something bad went down. I almost drove your ass to the hospital, but I called her first."

"And what? You _forced_ her to tell you what happened? I don't believe that for a goddamn minute." It hurts to be talking this much, to be breathing this hard. "Max just couldn't keep her fucking mouth shut." He glares at her. "Could you Max?"

Her hair falls in her face a bit as she looks down at the ground and her voice sounds a little watery when she replies, "I didn't mean to-"

It's obvious to him that she feels bad, but she _promised_ not to go blabbing their business everywhere. "You want me to believe you _didn't_ mean to run your mouth to Harrington? Looks to me like you did."

He must sound a little unhinged or something because Harrington suddenly moves. "Listen, asshole, I'm not going to stand here and watch you throw a fucking temper tantrum like a _child_ just because we found out something you didn't want us to." Steve says, getting dangerously close to his face. "Grow the fuck up."

If Billy could breathe a bit better he'd take him down a peg or two for that.

"Even if she _did_ tell me everything without me asking, she'd only be doing it because she cares about you." He continues, "But it doesn't even fucking matter because I was already concerned. She didn't have to say shit for me to want to help you."

That's the stupidest thing Billy's heard in a long time. "Why the fuck do _you_ care, huh? I'm a total dick. I fucking beat the shit out of you."

"Ok? So did Jonathan," he says, gesturing to the boy standing nearby. "I don't really hold grudges."

And Billy can't stop what comes out of his mouth next. "Hah, yeah, I guess you can't afford to hold grudges. If you did, the only friends you'd have would be a bunch of fourteen year olds, considering the Princess fucked Byers behind your back."

Steve's posture changes but he doesn't back down like Billy thought he would. He just crosses his arms, looking bored. "You done?"

"Not hardly."

"Go on then," he challenges. "Let me have it. I know you're dying to."

But… he isn't really _._ Tearing Steve down isn't going to make him feel any better about this situation. He's just…

So angry.

And hurt.

And maybe a bit embarrassed, if he's being honest with himself.

"Well?" Steve's hands are on his hips now. "I can stand here all day, but I'd rather not waste my time fighting with you about this."

And Billy doesn't understand. Doesn't know why Harrington, why _any_ of them, give a shit about what happens to him. And he feels… he feels _trapped_.

Harrington must sense the rising panic in him because he finally moves out of the way and lets Billy hobble past him onto the porch.

 _Finally_.

He pats at his pockets and is so fucking relieved to still have his cigarettes. He lights one and sits on the steps, tries to think, tries to figure out what his next move is.

Because walking from the couch to the porch sucked dick, there's no way he'd be able to make the trek all the way back to his house.

As much as he hates to admit it, he's kinda at their mercy.

One cigarette later, Byers comes out and sits down beside him.

He's not sure what the creep thinks he's doing but at least it's not _Harrington_ trying to make peace. He's not ready to face him.

"You know," Jonathan starts when Billy remains silent, "I understand why you're upset."

That's laughable. He's heard all about Joyce Byers. With a mom like that, he couldn't possibly. "Oh yeah? You think you know how I feel?"

"Maybe not everything you feel…but I _do_ know what it's like to hide bruises."

Billy looks over, searches his face for any lies, but there don't seem to be any. But that doesn't make any sense? The woman is barely five two and doesn't seem the type for physical violence.

Before he can ask what he means, Byers sighs. "We didn't always live in Hawkins. We lived in Indy with my dad until I was twelve. And he wasn't… he was, well saying he was an asshole is an understatement." Byers pauses, rubs his hands on his jeans. "He was always upset and yelling at my mom, blaming her for shit _he_ screwed up, accusing her of cheating all the time, calling her a shit mother. He told me that she was being too soft on us that _no sons of his were going to grow up sissies_. So one day he decided he was going to start trying to make me into a _man_."

Billy knows what that's like. He's heard a lot of versions of that speech over the years.

"So, I understand what it's like to be afraid of your own father."

"I'm not-" Billy starts, but he gets cut off.

"It's ok to admit it, man. I still freeze up if I see mine."

"I ain't admitting shit."

There's a deep sigh. "I know you hate this, and you're probably mad, but maybe it's better that we know? So, you don't have to deal with it alone."

"Believe me, I'm better on my own."

"No one is better on their own, Billy," he says, and then rises, stairs creaking as he steps up. "You should talk to Steve. He's trying to help."

He wants to tell Jonathan to fuck off and mind his own business, but he knows he can't ignore the truth in his words. Besides that, he doesn't have the energy or lung capacity to keep this up. He decides that he might as well get this shit over with, and stands up, but he doesn't even have to seek the other boy out. He's opening the door and handing him a couple of pills and a glass of water.

Billy only stares at them.

"Oh my _god_ , just fucking take them, Hargrove."

"If I do, will you take me home?" he asks, "These heart to hearts are fun and all, but he's gonna get pissed if I'm not back when he gets home tonight."

Steve looks frustrated as fuck. "Why the hell do you even want to go back?"

"Listen, Harrington, I get it, ok? You're worried about me or whatever, but you're wasting your time." He motions to his face. "I'm used to this shit. It's always been this way and always will be. There's nothing you can do to stop it. There's nothing any of you can do."

"You _do_ realize the Chief is practically Jonathan's stepdad, right?"

" _Yeah_ , that's not fucking happening." Billy scoffs. Last time the law got involved he had to stay home from school for a week.

Steve flails his arms a bit as he asks, "Why won't you let us help?"

There's a lot of reasons, but… "Because I don't _need_ your help _or_ your fucking charity."

"It's not- it's not _charity_."

"Well, it doesn't matter what you call it, still don't need it."

"Jesus Christ, you're a real stubborn son of a bitch aren't you?"

"I guess I get that from my old man," Billy snarks and he can tell that that gets to Steve. His face goes from pissed and irritated to sad. Which honestly pisses Billy off _more_.

"Billy."

He quickly takes the pills and shoves the empty glass into Steve's hands. "Take me back to my car."

Steve looks like he wants to argue, maybe even wants to drag Billy back into the creepy house and have some kind of intervention, but he doesn't. He just sighs. "Fine…but I'm going to follow you home to make sure you don't run off the road again."

"Whatever makes you feel better," Billy replies before he glances over at the window, where the brats are watching them.

Some things never change.

He follows Steve out to the Beamer, but before he gets in, Max busts out of the house and runs up to him. He doesn't have the energy to be mad at her anymore so he lets her get close, lets her talk.

"I'm sorry I told Steve," she tells him.

He shakes his head, he knows he was being an ass. "No, I'm sorry I yelled at you. You shouldn't have had to keep a secret that big."

"But still-"

"It's fine, Max, ok? Don't worry about it."

She just nods and he shuts the door. He knows they'll have to talk more at some point, but for now this is fine.

Harrington doesn't talk when they head back to where he'd found him a few hours ago, but the tension is building. He can tell he wants to talk, probably wants to convince Billy to go back to Byers' house, to stay with him and the brats, but he knows Billy well enough now to know that he's not going to listen.

He does tap his fingers on the steering wheel and makes a sound of displeasure, though. "Are you sure I can't take you to the hospital or something? I noticed earlier that you're breathing kind of weird."

"Can't keep your eyes off me, huh, pretty boy?"

He can't be sure, but he thinks Steve's face colors a bit. "Fuck you."

Billy suppresses a laugh. "Happens when you have a broken rib or two."

"What the fuck? Your ribs are broken?"

"Yeah, it's happened before so I'm not worried. It sucks but I'll be fine in a week or two."

"He's broken your ribs before?" Steve sounds completely appalled. " _Jesus_."

"It's not even the worst I've gotten." Billy shrugs and shifts a bit in his seat. "Honestly, sometimes I wonder if I'll make it to graduation."

"You know that's fucked up, right?"

He rolls his eyes. "Yeah, I'm very much aware."

"I still think you should let me like… do something."

"You can't save me, Harrington," he replies. He looks back out the window. "But thanks for wanting to, I guess."

And he knows he's gonna get out of this car in a minute, go home and deal with his dad's bullshit still, there's no getting around it, but he'd be lying if he said he wasn't a bit relieved that someone other than Max knows.

He won't have to put on such a huge show now. He won't have to hide his pain behind an angry smile. He won't have to try so hard to pretend things are fine.

So, maybe it's ok that they're all in on his secret, even fucking _Dustin_. Maybe it's ok that this happened. Maybe he won't feel so alone the next time his dad decides to kick him out.

And maybe…

Maybe he'll survive until graduation after all.


End file.
